Building Setbacks & Zoning in Alabama (2026)
35 rules on the books across Alabama, 13 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Setback Rules
How far structures must be from property lines, streets, and other buildings. Different setbacks apply to front, side, and rear yards.
Auburn
Some RestrictionsAuburn's Zoning Ordinance sets minimum street, side, and rear yard setbacks for single-family lots in conventional…
Read full rule →Bessemer
Some RestrictionsBessemer sets minimum front, rear and side yards for every zoning district in Table 2, backed by general rules in…
Read full rule →Birmingham
Some RestrictionsBirmingham's R-1 Single-Family District requires a 40-foot front yard, a 40-foot rear yard, an 8-foot side yard on each…
Read full rule →Hoover
Some RestrictionsHoover's R-T-4 Townhouse District sets building setbacks of 20 feet from a public street and 25 feet from district…
Read full rule →Huntsville
Some RestrictionsHuntsville's zoning ordinance sets a different front, side, and rear yard setback table for every residential district…
Read full rule →Jefferson County
Some RestrictionsUnincorporated Jefferson County ties every building's front setback to the road it faces rather than a flat number…
Read full rule →Lee County
Some RestrictionsMost of unincorporated Lee County is unzoned. The county's zoning regulations apply only in election beats that voted…
Read full rule →Madison
Some RestrictionsSetbacks vary by zoning district. In the common R-2 single-family district, minimum front setback is 25 feet (35 on…
Read full rule →Madison County
Some RestrictionsMadison County has no zoning code, but its Subdivision Regulations set numeric yard setbacks for every new lot created…
Read full rule →Mobile
Some RestrictionsFront, side, and rear yard setbacks for Mobile's R-1 Single-Family district vary by sub-district. R-1 Suburban requires…
Read full rule →Montgomery
Some RestrictionsMontgomery's zoning ordinance fixes minimum yard depths by residential district in the Article VII district table. In…
Read full rule →Tuscaloosa
Some RestrictionsMinimum front, side, and rear setbacks are set by each zoning district. In single-family districts, typical minimums…
Read full rule →Vestavia Hills
Some RestrictionsVestavia Hills' Zoning Ordinance sets a hard ceiling on side yards and lets front setbacks flex to match the block. No…
Read full rule →Structure Height Limits
Maximum building heights allowed by zoning, including how height is measured and exceptions for chimneys, antennas, and rooftop equipment.
Auburn
Some RestrictionsAuburn caps residential structure height at 35 feet across every Neighborhood Conservation District tier, from the…
Read full rule →Bessemer
Some RestrictionsBessemer caps building height at 35 feet in single-family districts, rising to 45 feet in multi-family and most…
Read full rule →Birmingham
Some RestrictionsBirmingham caps most residential buildings at 35 feet under the Zoning Ordinance's district tables, from R-1…
Read full rule →Hoover
Some RestrictionsIn Hoover's Planned Residential Development (PRD) district, the zoning ordinance caps building height at 35 feet, one…
Read full rule →Huntsville
Some RestrictionsHuntsville's Residence 1 district caps single-family home height at 35 feet and 2½ stories under Zoning Ordinance §…
Read full rule →Jefferson County
Some RestrictionsHomes built in Jefferson County's R-1 Single Family District, the county's standard suburban lot classification for…
Read full rule →Lee County
Some RestrictionsLee County's Zoning Regulations cap residential buildings at 45 feet and nonresidential buildings at 60 feet…
Read full rule →Madison
Some RestrictionsIn Madison's single-family districts (R-1, R-1A, R-2), the maximum building height is 35 feet. Detached accessory…
Read full rule →Mobile
Some RestrictionsMobile caps building height at 35 feet in every R-1 Single-Family Residential sub-district: Urban, Suburban, and…
Read full rule →Montgomery
Some RestrictionsMontgomery caps building height at 35 feet and two stories in its Very Low Density residential zones (R-125, R-100 and…
Read full rule →Tuscaloosa
Some RestrictionsMaximum building height is set per zoning district. In the single-family residential districts (SFR-E, SFR-1, SFR-2)…
Read full rule →Vestavia Hills
Some RestrictionsIn Vestavia Hills' R-1 Low Density Residential District, homes are capped at 35 feet or two and a half stories…
Read full rule →Lot Coverage Limits
The maximum percentage of your lot that can be covered by buildings and impervious surfaces like driveways and patios.
Jefferson County
Significant RestrictionsIn Jefferson County's Slope Zone Overlay District, land with a natural slope of 15% or more, impervious surface is…
Read full rule →Auburn
Some RestrictionsAuburn caps how much of a conventional-subdivision lot can be covered by impervious surface through a sliding Maximum…
Read full rule →Birmingham
Some RestrictionsBirmingham's Mixed Use District ties maximum impervious surface, meaning rooftop, paved parking, and similar hard…
Read full rule →Huntsville
Some RestrictionsIn Huntsville's mapped Slope Development District, impervious cover on a lot is capped at 15% in the lower slope zone…
Read full rule →Madison
Some RestrictionsMaximum lot coverage is set by district. R-1 and R-1A single-family lots are capped at 25 percent, and R-2 neighborhood…
Read full rule →Mobile
Some RestrictionsMobile's Unified Development Code caps "coverage," the share of a lot buried under buildings and roofed structures, by…
Read full rule →Montgomery
Some RestrictionsMontgomery, Alabama caps building coverage in its very-low-density residential districts at 20 percent of gross lot…
Read full rule →Tuscaloosa
Some RestrictionsTuscaloosa limits building coverage through a maximum 'Ground Coverage Ratio' set per zoning district - the percentage…
Read full rule →Vestavia Hills
Some RestrictionsR-1 Low Density Residential lots in Vestavia Hills cap building coverage at 30 percent of the lot under Table 5.2 of…
Read full rule →Lee County
Light RestrictionsLee County's Zoning Regulations don't cap lot coverage or impervious surface at all: Section 4.2 sets only a…
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